[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 151 (2005), Part 7]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 9794]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




          MILITARY RETIREES ARE WAITING--LET'S FINISH THE JOB

                                 ______
                                 

                            HON. BOB FILNER

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                          Monday, May 16, 2005

  Mr. FILNER. Mr. Speaker and colleagues, I rise today to introduce a 
bill to eliminate the Disabled Veterans Tax and to provide immediate 
concurrent receipt of military retired pay and VA disability 
compensation to all deserving disabled military retirees.
  The ``Immediate and Full Repeal of the Disabled Veterans Tax Act of 
2005 (H.R. 2368) does exactly what it says--it eliminates the years of 
waiting before all disabled military retirees receive all the retired 
pay and compensation they have earned and deserve.
  For the past several years, our Nation's veterans waged a long and 
determined campaign to eliminate the Disabled Veterans Tax. As my 
colleagues know, we were partially successful. But only partially.
  The laws that we passed make veterans with a disability rating of 50 
percent to 90 percent wait for ten years before their tax is completely 
eliminated. A great number of these veterans are elderly and, 
unfortunately, may not live to see that day.
  Even worse, fully two thirds of America's disabled veterans, with a 
rating less than 50 percent, have been left behind and will continue to 
be taxed as before--nearly 400,000 veterans! Despite the actions of 
Congress last year, the Disabled Veterans Tax is alive and well.
  Our Democratic Leader, Nancy Pelosi, recently stated: ``On the 
battlefield, our soldiers pledge to leave no one behind. As a Nation, 
let it be our pledge that when they return home, we will leave no 
veteran behind. The Disabled Veterans Tax breaks that promise.''
  Some of the veterans left behind include:
  A veteran of the Kuwait theater who had a below-the-knee amputation 
after being hit by a drunk driver while jogging near the Pentagon to 
maintain physical fitness.
  A retiree who cannot work on a family farm because of pain, numbness 
and osteoarthritis of both feet due to exposure to cold during 
noncombatant military service.
  A veteran who lost an eye when an air hose accidentally detached from 
an airplane being worked on and who cannot work as an airline pilot.
  A female retiree who has weekly panic attacks and chronic sleep 
disturbances as the result of a sexual assault which occurred while on 
active duty.
  My friends and colleagues, Congress did just okay by taking the first 
steps towards eliminating the Disabled Veterans Tax--I would give us a 
grade of C-, but we did not do A work.
  During my years in Congress, I cannot recall more than or two other 
issues on which I have received so many letters, e-mails and phone 
calls. Our veterans have been telling us that this is an important 
issue to them. They deserve that we do A work.
  I understand that there are costs to concurrent receipt. But I also 
understand that the now-disabled veterans did not hesitate when called 
to duty. Many have returned home with disabilities they have had to 
lived with ever since. How can we doubt the imperative that we keep our 
promise and give them what they deserve? They earned their military 
retired pay. They deserve their VA disability compensation.
  We cannot make them wait any longer for justice to prevail!

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